And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Raleigh. Some neighborhoods aren’t as great as others.

So the question arises, which Raleigh neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Raleigh hoods need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Raleigh area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Five Points ranks way above the rest.

We examined 18 of Raleigh’s neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don’t quite measure up to Raleigh’s reputation.

How we determined the worst Raleigh hoods

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in Raleigh:

High unemployment (Less jobs)

Low median income (Less pay)

Low population density (No things to do)

Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)

High crime (Estimated)

Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Raleigh for each of these criteria from worst to best.

Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a ‘Worst Score’.

The neighborhood with the lowest ‘Worst Score’ ranks as the worst neighborhood of Raleigh.

Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Raleigh to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 18 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.

1. Southwest

Population: 20,154Median Income: $34,892Median Home Value: $112,047

2. South

Population: 16,734Median Income: $43,236Median Home Value: $131,133

3. Southeast

Population: 27,371Median Income: $44,506Median Home Value: $124,477

4. South Central

Population: 7,878Median Income: $26,093Median Home Value: $122,138

5. Northeast

Population: 83,020Median Income: $53,522Median Home Value: $154,940

6. East Raleigh

Population: 11,242Median Income: $42,586Median Home Value: $165,412

7. West

Population: 36,268Median Income: $46,477Median Home Value: $157,354

8. Central

Population: 5,224Median Income: $29,608Median Home Value: $207,660

9. North Central

Population: 6,457Median Income: $38,072Median Home Value: $215,680

10. Falls Of Neuse

Population: 8,346Median Income: $60,989Median Home Value: $255,050

The ‘hoods around Raleigh that are really hoods

Well there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Raleigh with Southwest landing at the bottom of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Raleigh aren’t all bad. Five Points takes the cake as the best place to live in Raleigh.